Initial work for the Phase II project of Chennai Metro Rail covering 107 km of the city is likely to start early next year.
While speaking at a session on ‘Can the Metro Rail transform Chennai?’ organised by the Chennai International Centre, CMRL managing director Pankaj Kumar Bansal said the first stretch of the Phase II project may be operational in about eight years from now.
“This project will be taken up in phases. We will first get loans for about 50% of the project since the entire cost runs up to nearly ₹80,000 crore. The loan will be acquired in phases,” he said.
Currently, three stretches are operational in Phase I of Chennai Metro Rail — Koyambedu to Chennai airport, Little Mount to Chennai airport and Thirumangalam to Nehru Park. By March next year, the stretch from Nehru Park will be extended up to Central and also another stretch from Saidapet to AG-DMS too will be made operational,” he added. “We are focussing a lot on implementing the common ticketing system soon. Using this, passengers can use the same card in trains, buses and even ATMs,” he said.
